Method of filling hollow elastic vehicle-tires with spongy material.



v A. T. com-511.. METHOD OF FILLING HOLLOW ELASTIC VEHICLE TIRES WITHSPONGY MATERIAL.

APPLIOATIOH FILED JAN.26,1909. I

91 7,545. Patented Apr. 6; 1909.

'unirnn srnrns PATENT ornion,

ARTHUR THOMAS COLLIER OF ST. ALBAN S, EN GLAND, ASSIGN OR TO PFLEUMATICSYNDICATE, LIMITED, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, A SYNDICATE OF GREAT BRITAIN.

METHOD OF FILLING HOLLOW ELASTIC'VEHICLE-TIRES WITH SPONGY MATERIAL.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed January 26, 1909.Serial No. 474,814.

Patented April a, 1909.

To all-whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR Tnorms L- LIER, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain, residing at St. Albans, England, have invented new anduseful Improvements. in

Methods of Filling Hollow Elastic Vehicle- Tires with Spongy' Material,of which the following is a specification. My invention relatestoelastic vehicletires of the kind in which there is a hollow elastic orflexible chamber or chambers filled 'v-iith a spongy or foamy gelatinoussubstance, the cells of uhich contain compressed gas, such forexample,'as described in the specification of-British Letters Patent No.

3,314 of 1906. In some of the tires of this kind heretofore constructedthe sponge or foam containing gas under pressurehas been forced intocanvas bags or, casings uhich have afterward been inclosed in the outercovers of pneumatic tires in place of the air- I tubes thereof. Thisarrangement is open to the disadvantage that, before-the,- -t ire hasbeen used on the road, practically thewhole of the stretch has been-.-taken out of the canvas forming the said bags or casings by thepressure of the sponge or. foam force therein; while the canvasinsertion in the outer cover ispractically unstretched. The

conse uence of this state of things is that,

after t e tire has been in use for some time, the outer cover stretchesand thus causes a space t-o'be left between its inner surface and thebag or casing filled with the said sponge or foam. This space permitsrelative motion to take lace durm running between the parts of t e tireuhic gives rise to fric- Y tional heating and rapid u'ear. Moreover .theuse, in an elastic tire, of an additional 40 bag or lining of canvas asabove mentioned,

orfoam.

reason of the sudden release of the external pressure.

expansion of the air contained therein by Now according to the presentinvention, I I

provide a single-tube tire, or an outer cover preferably provided withoverlapping basal I portions oria hollow tire section, each of the abovebeing-made either with or without canvas insertion, filled with theaforesaid spon e or foam.- According to one method, the ling is effectedagainst a supporting pressure produced by a movable piston or diaphragmarranged between the sponge or foam and a liquid in the interior spaceof the tire or tire-section, which liguid is allowed to escape through aconstrictc aperture at one end of the said interior space, while thesponge onfoam is forced in through an aperture at the other end ofthesaid space. In some cases, therequi'site supporting resistance may beprovided solely by the friction of the piston moving along the interiorwall of the tire or tire-section, the liquid in this case beingdispensed with.- The said piston may. be formed of canvas which ispreferably waterproof and provided with a tubular reard.wardly-extending wall which is pressed against the wall of the interiorspace of the tire by the pressure of the sponge or foam on its interiorsurface, the said Piston being preferably removed through the outletaperture when said interior space. is filled with the sponge or foam, Inthe case of sectional tires, the sections of which are mounted on rigidcarriers, the pistons may be made more orless rigid with packing attheir edges and be arranged to move toward the rigid carrieragainst'which they may be allowed to remain permanently after thesection has been filled with spon e or foam. The inlet pipe may bepassed t rough-an aperture in said piston so as tomovc fluid-tighttherein or it may be fixed to said piston and mbvc outward as thesection is filled with the sponge In cases where the tire or tiresectionhas suiliciontly flexible walls, forexample, for tires for bicycles,motor-cyclcs and small cars, the requisite resistance may be produced bypressing rollers against the exterior surfaces thereof, these rollersbeing rolled at a suitable speed in advance of the sponge or foam as thelatter is forced in. 1

- In the accompanying drawing, 1. have filling process,

tire, showing the means show]: how the said invention may be conweizziently and advantageously carried into practice.

Figure l is a median section of a singletube' tire showing the pistonsapproaching each other toward the completion of the and Fig. 2 is adiagram showing the position of the pistons at the commencement of thefilling process: Fig. 3 is a similar view to Fig. 1, showing a pistonhaving an internal supporting spring. Fig. 4 is a similar view to Fig.1, illustrating a modified arrangement of the inlet and outlet of thetire. Fig. 5; is a transverse section of a hollow element or section ofa sectional for filling the same. Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating amodified method of filling a continuous or endless tire.

In filling an endless tire, according to the methodshown in Figs. 1, and2, the tire a is provided with an inlet aperture band adiametrically-opposite outlet aperture 0, of

. sufficient size to permit the insertion and reinto the fairway of thetire and arrest the moving piston.

motion of said faster moving piston and thus permit the escape of theair or other fluid in the tire in front of the more slowly In Fig. 3 acanvas piston is'shown which is kept extended by an internal spring, a.g. a c011 of steel or other elastic wire 9, whichmay be also withdrawnthrough the outlet aperture. This spring may have inwardly bent, roundedor ball-shaped ends to prevent it from damaging the tire as it iswithdrawn.

In Fig. l, an arrangement is illustrated. in which the inlet and outletapertures b, c are arranged close together with a flexible diaphragm itbetween them. This diaphragm may consist of canvas permanently securedin the interior of the tire as shown, orit may be made with a suitablesupporting frame whereby it may be detachably securedin said tire. Inthis arrangement, the single piston is employed which moves around themterior of the tire in front of the filling ma terial from the inlet 1)to the outlet 0.

In the sectional tire element aflshown in Fi 5, the piston d has aninlet pipe j for fil ing -material secured therein, so that the fillingmaterial is delivered to the farther side of said piston and forces thelatterdown on to the rigid base or carrier k of the tire el e merit,where it maybe allowed to remain permanently. The inlet pipe 7' extendslforcing pressure I agency of the p i column of air from the chamber ofthe tire.

through a hole m in the carrier is, this hole bei preferably closed by asuitablejplug or the fike after removal of the pipe j. v

In Fig. 6, an arrangement is shown in whichrollers n, a are rotatablymounted on arms 0, 0 which are adapted to turn about an axis 1)arranged-concentrically with the tire 0.. These rollers, on commencingto fill the tire, are arranged close together; as they filling materiale enters, it causes them tomove in front of it in opposite directionsaround the tire until theymeet'at the outlet for the air or other fluidoriginally in the tire.

W hen it is desired to produce a high pressure in the tire, suitablemeans may be pro-- vided for constricting the outlet aperture '0,

so as to limit the rate at which the air or other fluid originally inthe tire can escape.

I claim:

1. Amethod for filling hollow vehicle tires with spongy material, whichconsists in a column of spongy material under into the hollow chamber ofthe tire and in roviding movable mechanical means for closing thefairway of said hollow chamber immediately in front of.said oolumnofspongy material. I

2. A method for filling hollow vehicle tires with spongy material wh chconsists in forcing spongy material under pressure into the hollowchamber of said tire and closing the fairway of the hollow chamber ofthe tire by mechanical means at suecessive points along said chamberduring the operation ofintro- I ducing the spongy material thereinto.

3. method for filling hollow vehicle tires with spongy material whichconsists in. forcing spongy material under pressure into the hollowchamber of the tire and producing an. internal bulging of the wall of.the tire section at successive points along said chamber during theoperation of introducing spongy material thereinto.

4. A method for filling hollow vehicle tires with spongy material whichconsists in forcing a column of spongy material under pres sure into thehollow chamber of the tire and in providing a roller movable about theperiphery of the tire for causing an internal l bulging thereof atsuccessive points along the fairway of the hollow chamber.

5. A method for filling hollow vehicle tires with spongy material whichconsists in forcing' a column of spongy material under pressure intojthehollow chamber of the tire, separating the spongy material from thecolumn of air in advance thereofand causing the advancing column ofspongy material to move the separating means and through the latter-toexpel the aforesaid ARTHUR THOMAS COLLIER. Witnesses:

GEORGE HARRISON, Gnome DONALD Hsnmsou.

